Chapter 278 – 14

You Have Died!

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The thought followed Harmony as her existence in Hazeldown ended. Having seen enough experiments go wrong in Verus’s advanced half-step potion lab with safety equipment, she’d made sure the room was empty except for herself when she worked in the slapdash bathtub set-up she’d had Ambrosia install in her manor.

Was it too much B.a.s.t.a.r.d venom, or that she used the water gathered from one of the water elemental bosses? Lots of unreactive duds; the project was an alchemical puzzle hobbled by the lack of local soul-binding agents, and being forced to use necromancy to bridge the gap made for an extra frustrating time. So when she finally got a reaction, she leaned into necromancy to help with a finished project. The “Uh oh.” didn’t even give her enough time to do anything but tank the explosion so as not to destroy the expensive supplies gathered. She’d thrown herself on top of the unstable reaction.

Death came swiftly, and it burned as her whole body was engulfed in caustic foam. Ambrosia was going to chew her ear off about the mess she left them; the people’s maid even had the temerity to say that it wasn’t important to have a half-step body. But this wasn’t just for her. Hazeldown needed to be elevated.  

As much as she wanted to blame the mistake on the distraction of Marci’s existence. Not to say she hadn’t harbored some resentment over the fact that the Understanding Stats for Progression teacher had the damned soulless teaching a whole class instead of them. The undead acted so certain.  Filling everyone’s head with unverifiable nonsense information, as it praised people for the stupidest of inquiries. Harmony couldn't honestly dump the burden of her death there.

The issue was a local one; both poorly made equipment and lack of well-labeled resources compounded by the problem of the poor education in the region more than anything. A short-term solution wouldn’t be enough, and one couldn’t expand the non-temple schooling she was setting up so quickly.

Her death was disappointing, but she’d learned new things, and even better, it set up an examination of [Two Against The End]. Would it turn Xera completely bright pink?

“Your niece should be experiencing a significant improvement tonight. I’d like to stay over and monitor her condition as you suggested.”

It was convenient that she was having tea with Aunt Cezna during the explosion. The changes since Xera’s aunt arrived had been slow even with the increased sacrificing from [Stride Before the Fall]. There were only so many ways you could die in Oorty’s Tomb, and most of the drastic changes happened from unusual deaths. Purposely sacrificing oneself for no real purpose didn’t have the same sense of danger or need [Two Against the End] required, so it did nearly nothing to improve the young girl.

“But you’ve been here having tea with me? What danger were you in? I’m still a bit perplexed about how this skill of yours works.  Marci, is Harmony telling the truth?”

White couldn’t use [Poise and Bearing] quickly enough to keep her face from falling. Re-softening it with the skill was all she could manage, but Cezna was already looking to the wards that warmed up to answer with that blue glow that fluctuated to the undead’s voice.

“Harmony White is small; she contains multitudes and speaks her truth.”

Cezna looked like she questioned that answer, since Harmony’s current form was a head taller than she was. Even as time slowly smoothed out issues, known errors continued to sprout up in Ricort’s new toy at a rate at which many felt they’d never be completely free of them.  So she huffed in acceptance of the imperfections.

“Our lady of legendary language agrees.  Isn’t that nice, Xera?”

Having her aunt bully her around was clearly driving her mad. The whole time that Harmony and Cezna were drinking, she’d only been able to quiver in place and not even pick up her cup.  After Cezna relaxed her domain, the defender could speak and move. The first thing she did was lift her cup and take a big gulp.

“Yes, that is perfect. I’ll have a spot made up next to my bed so she can watch.” Xera answered a bit rushedly. And slam, the domain descended again, shuttering her mouth and forcing her arm down.

“I’ll want privacy with my linked partner. If you don’t mind.”

Cezna let out a long sigh. “Fine, I’ll take the guest room. Xera sleeping under my influence has been good training. Did you see how quickly she moved once I relaxed? I suppose I could use this as a break myself.“

Harmony continued to humor the woman until the tea got cold, and Cezna got up to leave the Chase family house.

Only after Cezna left the room was Xera finally free.

“I hate that woman! I hate her! I hate her! I hate her!”

Harmony shot Xera a look that showed disapproval of such an outburst while her aunt had a listening device tied to her. This wasn’t one of the warded school buildings.

“I’ve already told that to her face. I don’t care if the world knows.”

“I think you’re being rather harsh on yourself. It’s clear that she still thinks you’re a child and wants to protect you.” Harmony answered.

“I am a fully evolved young woman!”

Yes, technically meeting the standards of admission to The Academy. That was not the same as actual experience. Because she still lacked that at such a young age, despite how [Two Against the End] physically matured her. The fact that bullies exist in a world of higher-level personages who used magical power to do such on a whim was an important point to get across.

Weaving her social skills and knowledge gained about Xera from [Keen Investigative Awareness], Harmony spoke without sounding patronizing. "Well, let's get you to bed early. I’ll have one of the maids get you a glass of warm milk and a cookie, since you barely had any food or drink during the tea. I’ll need to do some preliminary examinations as you rest.”

“That would be nice,” Xera answered, relaxing, as she was so used to being served. “Maybe you could tell me a story about your childhood as I doze off.”

Harmony managed to craft a smile that hid her grimace. That childhood was complicated. “I’ll try.”

Cookie and milk acquired, Harmony settled for a lullaby to sing Xera to sleep, one from an obscure play she’d been forced to memorize. It held one of her good memories, since she’d been able to assist her mother to sleep with it more than once, allowing young Harmony to escape whatever hovel they were squatting in.

Xera slept in light clothing, as she had since her aunt came over, so that changes could be observed. The room was heated against the winter, so not even a blanket was needed. It allowed for a proper physical inspection of the changes the girl had gone through since she’d formed a link to her with [Two Against the End].

The streak of pink hair was still growing out of the spot on Xera’s forehead, mimicking where the wound was from that experimental strike at Hazeldown. While Harmony always associated the color with Chaos due to Maxwell, there was not a lick of it in the actual growth, nor did it glow.  How could a cosmetic change be counted as improvement?

[Manipulate Dead] snipped a piece of the new shade of hair, with only a little resistance. She turned her necromantic skills onto it, finding nothing.

The shimmering skin wasn’t actually smooth tiny scales, but a hardening and more organized collection of the outer skin, possibly adding more toughness.

The tattoo above her heart wasn’t actually a tattoo; the girl's pigment had changed. Inquiries into the language, even using Marci, had drawn up a blank for the gibberish symbols. It was with soul sight that revealed it did something, acting like a primitive ward protecting her core. Len would have a field day with that discovery. More notes to send to him.

A robustness was added to her body and soul. Despite her attitude and age, you’d think you were looking at a fully mature woman. She’d packed on weight to go with that extra height. The question was what would this newest death do to her?

Harmony made a study of the process; [Two Against the End] was centered in the girl's head. As sleep took the girl, it burst into activity, causing her body to twitch and moan in her sleep. Biological compounds, both magical and mundane, were produced in the brain and directed to various organs, glands, and cells inside Xera’s body.

The link prioritized physical changes over those of the soul. But as the body got more robust, so did the container it was linked to. Thickened walls, skills that shored up small weaknesses, and then the soul, which filled with energy in response. Every layer was connected. Even the monster that was Xera’s body type stirred a little, not that Harmony poked it. No system in a body worked alone. Improve one and the others improve too.  

That didn’t mean Harmony would take up calisthenics to test it on herself. There were only so many hours in a day, but it was good to know.

Xera’s skin didn’t turn pink, but the effects of the triggered change from the massive trauma Harmony’d experienced focused on the muscles. Denser, stronger, quicker to twitch in response to things like explosions. Outwardly, there wasn’t a noticeable change like some of the other events. But this should be a big improvement for someone yet to quicken and was unable to gain levels.  But how much stronger?

This was the kind of thorough inspection Harmony wanted to give Tasha after her unique body potion. Changes were fascinating. The subtle structural differences already blossomed into ideas on how she could improve Bea and other projects.

Even better, something about how the improvement to the body, soul, and monster inside Xera told inspired an idea on how to help Alex’s bear problems even more.

As morning light trickled through the window, Xera sat up, rubbing her tired eyes. “Harm, have you been sitting there like that all night watching me and listening to me snore?”

“I need to listen for changes and watch you through this process.” Harmony smiled into a toothy grin. “I’m hungry; let's sneak out and get some breakfast before Cezna knows.”